My heart was racing and my palms were sweating as I griped the steering wheel. “This is it,” I told myself, “the moment I’ve been anticipating for sixteen years.” My dad left the car as a mean looking man walked toward the vehicle. I rolled down my window and handed him my papers. He walked around to the back of the car. “Right turn signal,” he said. The test had begun.

Waking up I turned over and rolled out of bed. “Today was the day,” I told myself. “The day I go for my driver’s test.” I stood in front of my closet as I tried to decide what shirt would look best on my license picture. I got ready for school and headed out the door just in time before my brother left without me. “This is the last time you will have to drive me to school,” I said to my brother. “Haha, we will see,” he said jokingly. We finally arrived at school. “This is going to be a long day,” I said to myself.

It was nearing the end of the day and my nerves became greater as the clock struck 3:05. “Good luck!” said my friend as we walked out of the classroom. “Thanks,” I said with a nervous smile. I walked out to the car where I met my brother and we headed to meet my dad at the drivers services department. “This will be a breeze just like my permit,” I reassured myself. We neared the building where I met my dad and we walked into the building. “Ready?” he asked. “Yup,” I answered trying to sound confident. We entered the building and waited in line until they called us up and told us to drive around to the back of the building. As we arrived at the test site, I could see other people taking their tests. As I watched the girl in front of me hit the curb when she tried to parallel park, I began to get nervous. A man came over to my car and I handed him some papers. He checked my brakes, lights, and turn signals. He got into the car and with no expression on his face, said “pull forward.” There was no turning back.

As I pulled forward, the man began to explain what I would have to do. I nailed the parallel parking and went through the rest of the test feeling confident. I followed the instructions he had given me and carefully went through the course thinking, “this is a breeze.” The test was finally finished and I parked the car waiting to hear the words, “congratulations you passed,” come out of his mouth. Instead I heard the words, “you’re going to need to come back again.” My heart stopped and sank into my chest. I sat there in shock as he got out of the car. Apparently, I had not made a complete stop at one of the stop signs. “Complete stop?” I said to myself. “There is no way!” My dad got back into the car and I began venting to him about what had just happened. We drove home and the first thing I did was reschedule.

The second time I went back I made sure to stop completely at the stop signs and passed with no problem. I will never forget the time I failed my first drivers test. It was a really good learning experience and my dad would always tell me, “It builds character.” I also learned that failure can be a good thing and to be very thankful for second chances.